Thursday, April 15, 2010

I love having salads like this for dinner. Fortunately I have a husband who doesn't have the typical male appetite for meat and potatoes. (He likes chick food.) When we go out to a restaurant, he's most likely the one to order a big salad, and I lean towards a burger or something heartier. We always have to switch our plates around when the server comes out.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite main-dish salads -- packed with flavor, freshness, and may even please a meat-eater.

I'm totally in love with this salad. The PB & maple dressing is so sweet, you could use it as a fruit dip or pour it over your pancakes. Alone on the salad, it was a bit much for me, but pairing it with the pecan-crusted, cinnamon-nutmeg-spiced chicken that wasn't sweet was genius. They balanced each other out perfectly.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a baking sheet with either nonstick spray or a foil lining. Blot the chicken with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture and season chicken tenders liberally with salt & pepper.

In one shallow dish, combine bread crumbs, chopped pecans, cinnamon & nutmeg. Crack the egg into another shallow dish and beat with a fork. Dredge each chicken tender in the egg, then in the pecan mixture. Place them on the prepared baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, prepare the salad. Combine vegetables and sliced apple into a large bowl.

Whisk together maple syrup, peanut butter, apple cider vinegar, oil and lemon juice in bowl, then drizzle over the salad. (I didn't put it all on there as I thought there was too much dressing for the amount of salad. It's good to dip apples in later. :)) Toss salad to coat evenly.

This salad is really, really good. I can't believe this came out of my own head. But to fully enjoy it, you need to roast the corn and use either cotija or feta cheese on top. The sweetness from the caramelized corn and the saltiness from the cheese create a nice contrast in the salad. I just discovered cotija cheese, and I love it. It has a strong, salty flavor like feta, but not so slap-in-the-face. More like provolone with hard, crumbly texture.

Grilled Chicken Salad with Chipotle-Lime Vinaigrettean original recipe by Natalie

For the dressing/marinade, combine chipotle pepper, lime juice, cilantro, House seasoning, and cumin in a small bowl. Whisk in olive oil until dressing comes together and thickens slightly. Pour half of dressing into a ziptop bag and add chicken breasts. Marinate for an hour or up to overnight. Refrigerate remaining marinade until ready to use.

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Grill chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Set aside and allow to rest while you put the rest of the salad together.

Roast the frozen corn by either broiling it on the top rack of your oven for 8-10 minutes or use a skillet and pan-fry it in a little olive oil. The corn should have brown spots.

In a large bowl combine lettuce and carrots. Whisk dressing to combine if it has separated. Add dressing to bowl and toss to combine. Slice chicken into thin pieces. Top salad with chicken, roasted corn, and avocado slices. Garnish with fresh pico de gallo and crumbled cotija cheese.

Nat's Notes:1. I also used lemon in both the salad and the pico de gallo and both lemon and lime are equally tasty.2. I used a grill pan on my stovetop to grill the chicken. It's a reversible cast-iron grill pan by Emerilware. Love it.

married, mother of two girls: addicted to blogging about her family, friends,and what she's had for breakfast: sucker for a good regency love story: dreams about being a published author and illustrator. blogs at Living the Creative Life

married, mother of two girls: the snarky mama, when she's not chasing children, she is painting clothing or making korker bows: actress, master of creative punishments. blogs at Winklepots and Random Thoughts

married, mother of two, one girl and one boy: an educated, full time working mom who is learning how to juggle a work life and a family life: a self proclaimed "geek" who loves all things science fiction and fantasy. Always on the go, but loves to find time for jewelry making and sewing. blogs at Alygatr's Everywhere

married, mother of two girls: thinks about food more often than she would like to admit: loves cooking, tinkering on her computer, and dabbling in photography: misses the good old days of sleeping in and fitting into certain pairs of jeans. blogs at Perrys' Plate

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